Secrets 2 'THE STORY'
by batman.wolverine
Summary: ‘How they came to be.’ Part 2 of what I hope will be a 'Secrets' Trilogy. [Nothing to do with X3, only first two movies.] [RoLo, Jott, Others]
1. The Three Stooges

_Thanks to everyone who R&R-ed 'Secrets'. I appreciate all your reviews and have my fingers crossed for your continued interest in this one too._

_Batman.Wolverine_

* * *

**Secrets 2 - 'THE STORY'**

**Author: **BatmanWolverine

**Fandom(s): **X-Men Movieverse  
**Genre:** Romance, Drama, Humor, Action.  
**Pairing/Characters:** RoLo, Jott and others (all inside)

**Rating:** T  
**Summary:** 'How they came to be.' Part 2 of what I hope will be a 'Secrets' Trilogy. (Nothing to do with X3, only first two movies.)

**Warnings (and Spoilers):** X-Men 1 and 2 movies.  
**Notes:** This Fic. is set in the Movieverse _just _after X2 ended. Nothing to do with X3.

**Acknowledgments: **

**Disclaimer: **Don't own any of the x-men character in any of the different Marvel universes (Cartoon, Comic or Movie). All owned and copyrighted by Marvel Comics.

* * *

**1. The Three Stooges**

_**Whoosshh!**_

The shower door pushed open, steam rushed out with an audible hiss accompanied by a near instant drop in temperature inside the small enclosure to level off with that of the rest of the room. Not that any of it would affect her…at least not internally. Externally, the cool air flowing forward as if to wash against and over her dripping wet body caused goose pimples to appear all over her smooth coffee hued skin, a slight shiver to run down her spine.

Never one to feel ashamed or taboo about her sexuality, and as comfortable in her skin as she was in the flowing dresses and robes that she was wont to dress in, she extended one long leg confidently, stepping out, her bare arm reaching for and pulling on the knee length cotton bathrobe. What made things even easier for her, that unlike many of the residents of the mansion, she had her own private suite and her own private bathroom attached to it. All hers…and whoever she deemed worthy enough to make use of it.

The tension and grime of the day washed away in the serene privacy of her inner sanctum, she felt her entire at rest, relaxed and at peace, almost as much as she did while in her private greenhouse sanctuary, in the company of her plants.

It was a part of her daily nighttime regimen, so was what happened next, as opening the door, she stepped back into her room, only to stop as she caught sight of him. Seeing him standing there, his muscles, rippling and shimmering like living metal, glowed from the thin sheen of sweat coating them, and from the reflected moonlight. He looked…beautiful. _Perfect_. The answer to a girl's drea…

---

"_StopStopStop. Its supposed to be romantic, with feeling, hot and heavy…not filled with cheese."_

"_Cheese?"_

"_Yeah cheese. This is so cheesy that one could make three double cheese pizzas and still have an extra topping left over."_

"_Yeah. Lets take a few steps back and start over again."_

"_Back back….hmmm, back….backback….back. STOP! Aaaaanddd .GO!"_

---

It was a part of her daily nighttime regimen, so was what happened next, as opening the door, she stepped back into her room, only to have a pair of strong muscular arms snake around her waist, a solid brick wall like chest coming in contact and pushing against her back as the same arms drew her closer towards…into him.

The tension that had spiked at being grabbed by an intruder lasted all but a second as realizing who it was, she relaxed, allowing herself to settle against him, reveling in the skin to skin contact.

She had known that he would come tonight. How that was, she wasn't sure herself. Just like that…as if a part of him lived inside her. Maybe it was a new aspect of her powers that she did know of until now, or maybe, just maybe, even as she denied herself from feeling it, accepting it…maybe it was that after all this time, she knew him so well, was so in tune, so connected with him that she could predict with pin point accuracy, movements of both him and of his _other_.

The reason that she did not allow herself to accept this explanation, the reason that she would not accept, at least not now, not in at a conscious level was that if she accepted that, she would also have to face another, a more deeper feeling.

One that could and would most probably lead only to one end, for her….tears of pain, of loss.

--

Silent as the night, the only proof that she had of his physically being there….apart from his _bare_ arms and body at her back, was his hot breath at the back of her neck and the strong but restless beating of his heart reverberating through her.

"Ororo…" his voice, barely above a growl giving away his current state had an odd sort of plea in it, one that no one ever heard from. No one except her that is. For everyone else, he was the definition of strength and resilience, someone who everyone had come to turn to and or look up to for help…some even for inspiration. But for her, especially at a time like this, he was just a man, a simple ordinary man in need of help…of saving himself.

Here he wasn't the hero, even the reluctant one that he was.

Here is just the man she…

….she stopped herself before she went any further.

--

As for him, burying his nose into the curtain of her short but silk soft hair, he breathed in deep, the smell of vanilla shampoo and sandalwood soap filling his nostrils, saturating his senses. The groan that followed was perfectly in sync with the tightening of his groin.

His grip growing even firmer, tighter…more desperate, he repeated the chant that her name seemed to him. Just like a lifeline for a man about to go under, to drown.

He knew that he should not being doing this, just as he shouldn't have touched her in the first place. He knew that this was wrong, that he was wrong for her. That she had been…was his friend should have been enough for him. She deserved better, much better, someone who was nothing like him, a mere shell of man, one with nothing…both for himself or for anyone near him. He knew that he should end this, even now he should let go, draw away from her…from everything she had and that she so freely gave to him, all without asking for any sort of return of a payback.

Why she did that, he did not know? Maybe it was a shortcoming of hers? After all, no one was as perfect as she appeared to be, not only to him but also to everyone else around them. Maybe it…he was just her 'salvage a lost cause', yet another tick in her chart of things she wanted to do in her life.

Or maybe, just maybe, there was actually something of worth in him, something (almost) no one other than her seemed to able to see, to reach…to draw to the surface, save and nurture.

He had, on more than one occasion, asked her about it, only to have her smile a sad smile, one than served no purpose than making him hate himself ever more…for having caused that sadness in the first place, for not being able to remove it and replace it with the brightness, the glimmer of happiness, of joy…of something more.

It wasn't that he did not want to, or maybe he did not, or maybe he did, just not to her…or maybe he should leave her or she leave him before he ended up hurting her too, destroying her too, just like he did with everything he ever came in contact with.

--

As if able to read his thoughts, she turned around in his embrace, her one hand resting against the hardness of his strong chest, gently running her fingers through the strong hair grown there, the other one rising to cradle and lift his jaw, her lips reaching for and resting against his.

A single _touch_ from her and the fight seemed to drain from him, as did the nightmares and pain that were seemingly his continuous partner.

Drawing back, her shimmering blue eyes studied him intently, before she stepped back, out of the circle of his arms, only to capture one larger hand within hers and lead him deeper into the room…towards the bed.

'Why do I do this?' She has asked herself many a time, although not at this particular moment. Now, here, at this time, it was as if just like him, she wasn't who she usually was. Not only was there no school and its students, there were also none of the people who hated them, who wanted nothing more than to hunt them, hurt them…kill them.

All there was just him and just her.

A man and a woman.

A man that she…

…once again she stopped herself from completing that thought.

--

Quite some time later,

Lying on her side, she did what she found herself doing a lot lately…observe him, trying to commit to memory every single inch, every single nuance, every single edge….everything.

Asleep on his stomach, one arm protectively, possessively draped around her mid section, his face turned towards her, she could not help but marvel at the way he seemed to change at times like these, times when he allowed himself to open up, to let down his walls, his senses…to relax. How young he seemed, how at peace, with none of the inner demons that haunted his waking thoughts.

How she wished she could relax the same way…do without needing to do the secretive way what she did next. Not a conscious decision, it was something that had just started in by its own, slipping past her own carefully placed walls.

Once again checking to make sure that he was truly asleep, she leaned forward and kissed him softly…one last kiss for the night. A chaste peck, on his cheek, just next to his overgrown muttonchops as she ran her hand over and through his wild mane.

And then, for the first time this night, she finally whispered the words that she had wanted to say so many times. The ones that although she wanted and hoped for, she did not expect him to return. Not now…maybe not ever.

"I love you…Logggggggggggggg…."

----

"_HEY! Why did ya do thaht foh?"_

"_What the hell is this?"_

"_Whaht? I got the romance done. Also the feelings."_

"_Yeah, but its like reading an issue of the New England Medical Journal, not a semi-porn novel."_

"_Like you can do better."_

"_You bet your ass. Move. Let the master show you how its done."_

----

Hours later,

Positioned on her hands and knees, her large….nah, her gigantic _'double plus good'_ pendulous mammaries swinging free midair, sweat glistening on her marble smooth skin, his _essence_ mixed with it, her swollen nipples rubbing against the bed as she was pushed into the bed with each push, Ororo was doing all she could to hold off yet another mind blowing orgasm. How many had it been. Six? Eight? Only the Goddess knew. All Ororo cared for and currently understood was herself and the sex-god rutting behind her, his throbbing, _obscenely_ long and thick member pistoning inside her, stretching her even further with each in and out motion, the two of them joined together like a pair of animals in mid-copulation.

And if that wasn't enough by itself, the way he was growling at her back, one hard calloused hand squeezing and kneading away at her soft, full breast, the other pulling at her damp sweat slicked hair, his swollen balls slapping away at her sensitive cli….

---

"_Hey! Tone it down."_

"_Yeah. Its supposed ta be 18 rated max, not XXX."_

"_Hmph."_

_**Delete. Delete…DeleteDeleteDelete.**_

"_Happy?"_

"_Yup."_

"'_K. Now keep it under control."_

"_Alright already. Sheesh. Whatta pair of wussies."_

----

And if that wasn't enough by itself, his firm hands on her behind, the way his fingers seemed to dig into the side of her buttocks, holding onto them as if for dear life, his deep growls and the audible slap of skin against skin, were the ones sounds reaching her ears, only to get lost in the lustful haze clouding her comprehensive thoughts.

"_Goddess!_ Oh Logan! Faster. Please...hurry. Do me. Harder. Plea…oh yes. Ah ah…uh, ah….ah…"

Spurred on her pleas and by power of her pheromones saturating his senses, the Wolverine tore free from the shackles that the man had set on him, almost instantly doubling the speed and power of his to and fro motions, going further and further inside his Nubian lover, the tip of his hardness reaching and crossing the threshold of her cervix.

'Goddess….(slam) thank you…(slamslam) for…his (slam) healing… (slamslamslam…slam) factor.' Ororo prayed, not for the first time, for Wolverine's mutant ability, one that not only healed him for any injury, but also seemed to give the sexual mileage of a Toyota Prius hybrid.

As for Logan, he was this close to cursing his healing factor. 'Come on already.' He growled to himself, or more importantly to his peck…ahem, his baseball bat. 'Get a hit. Make a homerun.' Though a god send for the ladies, the flamin' healing factor powered boner did jack for him. The amount of him it took him to get to one orgasm, most men would be done twice and be already asleep. Thankfully, Ororo was one hot piece of….uh, beauty. Being with her, cut down the lead time by half, making for a kickass fuc….love making session. Even though she was one among more than five thousand women he had been with, she was definitely among the top ten, maybe even among the top five.

Now if only he could get his nut off.

----

"Eeew…" looking over her roommate's shoulder, Kitty Pryde got the shock of her life at the language of the typing on the screen.

"Isn't it great?" Jubilation 'Jubilee' Lee, grinned at she rattled of the next line, one about Logan planting a swift, more than slightly hard slap against the smooth behind of the panting Ororo, causing her to let out yet another whimper of painful pleasure.

"Oh. Mah, God." Having waited for the printer to spit out a hard copy of Jubilee's literary _masterpiece_, the third of the budding authors expressed her shock, both by her words and her 'red as tomatoes' ears. "Whaht is this? Ah thought ah told ya to keep it readable, under the rating."

"I did so." Jubilee jerked her head between her two roommates. "What is wrong about it?"

"What is wrong with it?" Kitty was the first to respond. You told me that my writing was too girly, that it had not enough feeling, no hot n' heavy stuff. And that I was too much into harping about us not having separate bathrooms. And that I replaced Logan with Peter."

"Yeah. So? What else do you expect when you write about 'living metal'. We all know that Pete is the only one with the living…well, organic metal and also that you wet your panties at the just mental visual of him working out in the gym, dressed in those tight shorty-short shorts of his."

"I do not." Kitty near about yelled, mentally amending. 'Well not always.' "Anyways, you also said that Rogue was too touchy feely, and that even though her Logan was kinda believable it was too introspective, too much of her shining through her words."

"Umm-Hmm." Jubilee still couldn't understand where had she gone wrong.

"Well, yella. Let me tell ya about yer Booker's Prize winning effort." Rogue stepped in with her views on Jubilee's penmanship. Starting as a 'finger pointing' towards Kitty's reading of romantic novels, and progressing to where the three girls had decided to try their hand at writing a short story of their own, one with a simple and most used plotline, that of _opposites attracting_. And for anyone living in the X-Mansion, nothing defined opposites better than the calm and collected Ororo Monroe, Storm and the loose cannon, and quintessential bad-boy Logan, the Wolverine.

"One. Logan ain't all animal," was Rogue's first salvo.

"Ms. Monroe would never allow someone to treat her like that," Kitty came to her favorite teacher's rescue.

"Yer writing is about a boy _getting some_ for the first time in his life and thaht ain't Logan."

"It-its too…" Kitty tried again, hesitating for a moment as she searched for an acceptable expression. "Its too raunchy."

"_Raunchy!_" Rogue snorted at her choice of word. "_'Enterin' and fillin' her'_ is raunchy. What Jubes Slappin' her butt. Yankin' her hair. Thaht ain't raunchy. Thaht's downright x-rated."

"You mean its perfect." Both Rogue and Kitty stared at Jubilee's exclamation.

"Perfect?" Both girls echoed simultaneously.

"Yeah, perfect. After all, an x-rated story for an x-man….and woman."

"Ai yi yi." Kitty slapped her palm against her forehead, cursing herself for practically walking into that quip. Although not using the same expression, Rogue to mirrored her action.

"Hey! Come now." Jubilee mentally patted herself for pulling one over her friends. With Kitty it was easy, it was Rogue who she was congratulating herself for. "You guys haven't heard the ending yet."

"Ending?" Kitty echoed apprehensively. With the way Jubilee was grinning and wiggling her eyebrows, she wasn't sure if she wanted to chance it.

"Yeah. After he finishes…_inside her_ mind you," Jubilee picked up from where she had been interrupted. "He draws away, falls onto the other side of the bed and…."

"And?" was Kitty.

'Ah don't think ah wanta hear this?' Rogue.

"And…" Jubilee let the suspense collect for a few seconds. "And then he….he…stands up, picks up his clothes and leaves for his room…but not before cleaning himself on the curtains."

"_EWWW!"_

"_GACK!"_

-

-

* * *

**Note:** I had planned on a proper 'M-Rated' chapter, then cut it short to a soft emotional one, but somehow that didn't quite gel with the mood that I had wanted to set up (especially with these three). The part 'written' by Rogue was the one that I had written earlier, with Kitty and Jubilee bringing in the changes.

Apologies if anyone found it to be putting off. Don't worry, Jubilee's contributions will be kept within limit….well, at least tried to. And with the next chapter, it will be the 'real' RoLo and not just the one that young hormonal minds come up with.

'nyways, this is the first chapter of this part of what I hope will be a trilogy. As for the others parts…well, let me get this one done first…at least half. Also, although one part, this might not necessarily be the first.

Please Review!


	2. Johnny Quest

**02. Johnny Quest**

**Summary:** For Logan, its that time of the story again, the time where he leaves the mansion. After all, no Logan starring fic can be complete without this. So here it is…just not in the way you might think.

* * *

It began, as with everything else, with an ending, or as far as Logan was concerned with pain, suffering and death, his three oldest and _closest_ companions. For the Wolverine, if he wasn't bearing either one or all of these three, he was in some way or form related with what caused them, either directly by his own actions or indirectly by just being there, being who he was.

Now, almost a month after returning from Alkali Lake, then accompanying the X-Men first to the White House and then back to the mansion, he was still here. A month since Jean had sacrificed herself to save the lives of not only the innocent children but also of her teammates…maybe even his. After all, in all his _testing_, even he hadn't been put through the wringer to determine if he could survive the force of millions of gallons of frigid water, not to mention being drowned by it.

Life in the Xavier Mansion was moving once again and even everything hadn't returned to normal, the memory of the recent events were gradually starting to fade away from the conscious of the residents. However, not everyone had been so lucky. Not Xavier, Ororo, the students…. Scott, all the people who had for years, known and lived with _her_….with Jean. And definitely not for him. Not by a long shot.

A lot had changed in the past month. Scott had all but closed onto himself, his involvement and appearances in the mansion and the X-Men limited to only the school, and that too only for classes. The rest of the time, he stayed behind the closed doors of the room that he had shared with Jean, venturing out only for food…sometimes not even for that. His general appearance had also changed. In place of the perfectly shaven, smartly dressed in at the least a clean t-shirt and trousers, Scott Summer now sported a three day old stubble, un-ironed shirts and jeans. And that was on a good day.

The other two 'adults', Xavier and Ororo had gone back to business as usual, splitting Jean's workload among themselves, with Ororo taking care of the educational classes, and Xavier of the training ones. The only thing that they hadn't been able to cover was the expertise that Jean brought by means of her medical education. That too, the Professor had admitted to be on the look for. He had contacted a couple of old students both of them doctors (well, one students and one 'known') and hoped to have something fruitful soon.

As for Logan himself, he had surprised both himself and the mansion residents…that su the ones who knew about him than just his name. Even Rogue, the one person who knew him more than anyone else was taken aback when instead just picking up and leaving, he elected to prolong his stay at the mansion….for an indefinite time. Moreover, even if he hadn't taken up any classes to teach, outright turning down Xavier's proposal, it wasn't like that he was just sitting with his thumb up his ass. What he had done was taken charge of the renovation and rebuilding of the mansion, quickly becoming the de facto 'go to guy' for both the residents and the workers hired to repair the damage caused by Stryker and his mercenaries. Paid twice the usual amount, the private contractors were more than happy to work in the cold of the winter, and to do so without asking any questions, like what had happened to cause a ten foot high and about eight foot across hole to blow open in not one but two of the outer walls, and what was a school doing with motion detectors planted randomly all over the mansion grounds.

----

So lost was Logan in his thoughts that he missed catching the scent of the two forms standing outside his door. It was only when there was a soft but firm knock and the sound of his name being called with that familiar southern twang did he detect their presence. _Their_ being, Rogue and her perennially sugar-_hopped_ roommate, Juli…Jumi…Jubilee.

"Logan." Rogue called out once again, not too loudly as to draw any undue attention but loud enough for the person in question to hear it. Not knowing whether he would be awake or asleep, she did not want to startle him. In fact, had it just been her, she would not have disturbed him at all, catching up to him a time when he was out of his room. However, it wasn't up to her or Jubilee. It was the Professor himself who had _requested_ her to ask Logan to come to his office, 'post haste'. However now, when even after three calls there was no answer from the other side of the door, she was getting worried, and the fact that Jubilee was popping away bubblegum bubbles like there was no tomorrow wasn't helping matters.

Raising her hand to knock once again, she stopped mid motion, taking a step back at the way the door was yanked open, a frazzled but clearly awake Logan staring down at her. The silence that ensued between them was shattered by yet another pop of a bubble.

"Hey." Logan growled in recognition.

"Hey." Rogue began softly, her greeting drowning as Jubilee took.

"Hey Wolvie. We were coming from class. Goingforlunch. Mindingourbusiness. Theprofessorstoppedusand…" she rattled off, picking up speed by the syllable. Seeing the frown forming on Logan's face, Rogue, physically restrained her friend's monologue ...a gloved hand serving as a temporary but more than adequate muzzle. She knew that Logan wouldn't harm Jubilee, even if most of it was because of the Asian firecracker's association with her. Over the last month both Kitty and Jubilee had weaseled into the small clique of people that weren't in immediate danger of getting skewered by the Wolverine and his deadly claws.

"The Professor asked us to tell you to come to his office." Rogue quickly paraphrased the Professor's message, still not quite understanding why hadn't the telepath contacted Logan himself.

The reason for that, though not known to either her or Jubilee, was known to the man before them.

Running a hand through his wild sleep mussed hair, Logan glanced over his shoulder at the clock on the wall opposite to his bed. "When?"

"When?" Rogue echoed, finally letting go of Jubilee.

"When did he tell you?" Not feeling quite conversational, Logan was more than a little annoyed at being disturbed, even if it was by Rogue. "When does he want me to come?"

"Oh, thaht. Ten minutes ago. An' he wants yah t' come immediately."

"Hn. 'k." About to turn away, Logan stopped mid-move, his hand tightening around the door knob. Seeing the way the teenager was shuffling on her feet, her shoulders slumped, Logan growled at the bitter smell of sadness rolling of Rogue. "Anythin' else?"

"No. Thaht's all." Even a person without any enhanced senses would have caught that lie.

What drove the point home was that instead of looking up at him as she spoke, Rogue had all of a sudden developed an interest in the seam of her opera length gloves. "Hey." He called out as softly as he could, adopting a sterner tone at getting no answer. _Hey._ Look up. What happened?"

"N-Nothing." Rogue shook her head once again, only to have Jubilee give out the cause of her 'being in the dumps'.

"Its Bobby."

"Bobby?" 'The Icicle.' Logan recalled from memory. 'Her boyfriend,' came a second later, as did another realization, one that said that lately he hadn't seen Rogue and the Ice-pop together all that much. "What'd he do?" If that punk did anything to hurt Rogue….

"Nothing." Rogue snapped, both at him and at Jubilee, turning around and running away before either of them had a chance to respond. Realizing her faux pas, Jubilee too rushed behind her, leave Logan alone, a deep frown etched on his face.

He would have to pay Ice-balls a visit.

But before that he had a bath to take and an appointment to keep. Stepping back and shut the door behind him, he turned towards the bathroom for a quick shower to clean himself of the remainder of his early morning….late night workout.

What did Xavier want now?

---

It was almost twenty minutes later that Logan found himself in front of the double doors with the polished 'Professor Charles Francis Xavier, Headmaster' plaque on it. Where earlier Xavier would have answered his knock even before he would raise his hand, this time Logan actually made it through, getting a spoken one 'come in' instead of the usual telepathic one.

This was yet another of the changes, even if a temporary one, resulting from Jean's loss. Whether by himself or after detecting an averseness from his projected thoughts, Xavier had been refraining from any sort of telepathic interaction with Logan. What Logan did not know was that it was the same with Scott, and for the same reason as him. It was too much a reminder of Jean's last moments….and the thoughts that she had conveyed through all their minds.

Pushing all that back, Logan pushed open the doors and stepped in, wondering what Xavier wanted to talk about.

---

Not two minutes later,

"You want me to _what_!" Logan could not believe his ears. He had not even settled down on the plush couch when Xavier dropped the bomb shell on him.

"I want….I would like you to, accompany Ororo on her trip to Africa." The Professor answered calmly. He had expected this sort of a reaction, not because Logan had anything against Ororo or Africa, but mostly because there wasn't anything for him to gain by making the trip or as the feral Canadian was thinking, by being a _babysitter_ for the resident thermostat-cum-rainmaker.

"Accompany Ororo on her trip to Africa." Logan repeated the words, slowly, mostly to himself, as if speaking them aloud would make it easier for him to understand them or deny them. "Why?"

"Because I don't want her to do it alone." Xavier's explanation wasn't to his liking or even related to his _'why'_ as Logan clarified.

"I meant, why does she want to go there?"

"Its…" Charles hesitated as he wasn't quite sure how to answer it. "Ororo hasn't given her reasons."

"And yer still allowin' her to go?" Logan quipped with a little too much scoffing and not enough surprise.

"She is an _adult_." Xavier stated the obvious.

Still not quite sold on the idea, let alone the proposition of a trip to fuck know where, Logan grasped onto the Professor's statement.

"If she's such an adult, why not let her go herself. Why lug me along?"

"Like I said, because I don't want her to do it alone." Charles restated his earlier words, only this time with more feeling and more than a hint of worry. "Not after…." He trailed off, stating without speaking his worry about the safety and well being of his students, both current and previous. Even though he knew that Ororo was more than competent to take care of herself, he still wanted to err on the side of caution. After all, there was safety in numbers. And with the time Ororo had asked for her _journey_, he definitely wasn't at ease at letting her being alone and out of contact for such a long time, especially with Cerebro still not up to full power and accuracy Moreover, with Scott not being in any condition to accompany her, and with no other responsible adult being there, Logan was his only remaining option.

Ruminating for a couple of minutes, as if weighing the pros and cons, Logan finally broke his silence. "How long?"

"About a month….maybe longer." The open ended answer wasn't confidence inspiring, but deciding on the 'in for a penny, in for a pound' policy, Logan let it slide. After all, even if he had to go with someone else, this was a clear chance for him to get out himself.

"When do we leave?" As far as Logan was concerned, they could leave right now and Xavier caught onto it.

"In a couple of days. Ororo is in the process of modifying her class schedule so that Scott, Kitty, Rogue and I will be able to fill in, but only she returns or a new teacher joins us."

'Kitty and _Rogue_,' that caused Logan to arch an eyebrow, which for him was a clear indication of his interest. Yet, seeing that it had nothing to do with him, he did not comment on it.

---

The meeting just about finished, he pushed himself to sit straight, his query of "Anything else?" getting a shake of the head from the Professor.

As he watched the feral Canadian leave, Xavier ruminated over what he hadn't told him. The first thing being why he had so easily given into Ororo's wish to take a break, and the second being why he had specifically asked Logan to be the one to accompany her. For these, there was one simple answer.

They both needed a break, if nothing else to do something that neither of them had done…..allow them to grieve for themselves.

To let out the pain that they had locked within themselves.

---

Not even sixty hours later,

_**BEEEEEEEEP**_

"Excuse me sir," the rather well built (read: pudgy) airport security checker approached the rough looking man who had just tripped the metal detector. "You were supposed to remove all the metallic objects on your person and put them in the plastic tray," he spoke in his 'false' authoritative tone.

"Did it already." The way the taller man growled at him, caused him to take a step back….literally.

"Please ch-check again."

"Fuck this." Already angry at the cacophony of the airport and the strong scents assaulting his senses, Logan was more than ready to let lose and rip the man a new one, only stopping because of his present company, the one waiting on the other side of the metal detector.

Checking again and getting no metal object on his person…at least not on the outside, Logan stood with his arms apart as the security guard patted and checked him personally.

All of a sudden Logan found himself surrounded by not three 'uniforms', the one already there making it four. "Please step this way sir."

"Why?" Even as he growled, Logan had already charted the easiest and quickest way, both to get away and to 'chop-shop' these four f'kers. However, the very next moment his blood ran cold.

"Full body cavity search."

About five minutes later,

**-SNAP- -SNAP-**

The sound of latex against skin caused a shiver to run down the Wolverine's metal encased spine, his gut constricting at the next command.

"Okay buddy, bend over and spread 'em."

---

_**WHACK!**_

"Oww," her back stinging at the sharp hit, Jubilee Lee whirled in her chair, ready to let loose a stream of expletives, getting beaten to the punch by the 'rolled newspaper in hand' Kitty.

"You are hopeless. If its not one thing, its another." Kitty pointed at the computer screen.

"What!" Reaching from the foot ruler, Jubilee used it itch that had replaced the stinging sensation.

"You make everything into a parody." Kitty shot back, trying her level best to stifle her giggles at the mental visual of the Wolverine getting 'fingered'. "Do you know what will happen if anyone gets a hold of this. We haven't even changed their names."

"Hmm. Then maybe we should." Jubilee's answer was just as quick, as were the names she came up with next. "How about Lilly for Ororo? Or maybe Tulip? Or Poppy? Rose? Or…"

"What's with the flower names?" Kitty interrupted as she caught onto Jubilee's line of thought.

"Well, we all know how much Ororo loves her garden, so I thought why not use a flower name in place of her real one."

"Hmm," it sounded acceptable to Kitty. "Okay…Rose will do."

"Rose huh?" Though not her first choice, Jubilee accepted it. If it was up to her, she would have gone in for Lilly, the white kind, like Ororo's hair. However, the main reason for her quick acceptance was that she has a kickass name for Wolvie. "But I get to choose for Logan."

'Uh-oh.' Kitty stopped short at realizing that she had just walked herself into a tight spot, and with Rogue currently out of the picture, there was no one to support her…or more important, contain Jubilee. "What?" She asked finally.

"A'long."

"Along?"

"No, not along, Jubilee shook her head. "A'," she stressed on the first alphabet, and then on the rest of the name, "long…A'long. Its an anagram of Logan."

"Oh." A couple of seconds of mental musing and Kitty caught onto it. Still there was that thought at the back of her mind, the one that warned, 'this is Jubilee. It can't be so simple.'

"Besides, I bet it is a perfect fit for him." 'And there it is,' Kitty's Jubilee-alarm piped up.

"Perfect fit?" She repeated softly. "How."

"You know, A Long. Bet Logan has _a long…._"

The rest of the words weren't heard as jamming her fingers into her ears, Kitty literally sprinted out of the room.

"Hey!" Jubilee yelled after her. "I was talking about his _'life'_ and not his pe…."

"_**La La Lalala laa..."**_

-

-

_**

* * *

**_**Note:** Sorry guys. I tried my best to keep Jubilee away, but she weaseled out and commandeered the computer.

**Next:** A Canadian Wolverine in Africa? Hope they have good Beer…and enough if it.

Please Review!


	3. The Wild Wild…East!

_**Author's Note/Responde:** I usually respond to the reviewerss directly, both for signed ones for those who include a mailing address. Hence this is for those reviewers who didn't provide any. I'd link to thank Rose and KinyBeaver for taking the time to read an' appreciate my work. As for Logan in Africa, this chapter should get it started for both of you (and for everyone else)._

_I have one more chapter almost done and although I won't be updating this fic as fast as its predecessor (I had already finished that and just made minor to medium revisions for posting here), I will try to make atleast do one update a week. Even have my fingers crossed for that...and its really difficult to type that way._

_Onto the reading...enjoy!_

_ BW_

* * *

**  
03. The Wild Wild…East!**

**Summary:** You push me. I shove you down. And then we make up. See, as easy as apple pie. (Chapter title from the TV show 'Wild Wild West')

* * *

Fortunately for the male protagonist of the three budding authors' first literary venture, things hadn't turned so 'intrusive' as what Jubilee's had conjured up with her fertile imagination. 

_/Flashback/_

_Ready to blow his top off at the security guard, Logan, remembering the small plastic card that Xavier had 'procured' for him, reached in and pulled it out from the inside pocket of his ever present jacket. Even though it would be hot where he was going, it wasn't the case here in New York…especially in the bitter cold of winter. "Here." He practically shoved the card it in the face of the other man._

"_Oh." The card read about Logan's 'special status', even having details like the having metallic rods in both his hands and also in one of his legs and the metal plate in his head, typed at the back. "Sorry sir." The man stopped short at the US DoD stamp. "Sorry for the inconvenience. Please go ahead."_

"_Hn." Snorting at the sudden change in behavior, Logan stomped through the metal detector, wincing as the loud beep rang behind him._

_Walking towards Ororo, noting at how detached she seemed, he shook his head, seriously contemplating his acceptance of Xavier's proposal to go with her to Africa….and that too without knowing what was she going there for. He would have pressed the matter, had he not sensed that even Xavier wasn't sure of the Ororo's plans and was only going along with to give her time some time alone, time to deal with whatever demons were troubling her. Of that Logan wasn't quite sure off. What would be troubling Ororo? And what was she going to gain out of running away to Africa. 'Running away?' That brought a pause as did the realization that in his musings, Logan had drifted precariously close to what was his habit and what he had almost done many a time in the past month._

_Closing off any further thought, the two clearly unmatched traveling partners fell in step, heading towards the boarding area to wait for their flight…the one that was going to take them to their first stop._

_Cairo, Egypt._

_/End Flashback/_

---

"You can leave if you want to. This is going to take some time."

Looking up, first at woman standing in front of him, noticing how she had tied up her hair, using a floral print scarf to cover the unmistakable snow white tresses, Logan then moved his gaze to either side, instinctively checking for any approaching danger. Even after a full night and the better part of the morning's rest, a long lunch, Logan's senses were still on high alert, both due to the sheer throng of life and due to the absolutely new surroundings. The change from the Canadian wilderness to the opulent Xavier estate in Westchester still made him wary sometimes, and it wasn't anywhere near the difference between those two places and where he was now, the language difference only serving to make the divergence all the more clear…and unsettling.

Good thing that Ororo understood Arabic and even managed to speak it, not fluently, but good enough to get them by. The first time it had happened, right at the airport itself, was when she had hailed a cab for them, one simple thought had sounded loud across Logan's mind.

'Now where did she learn that from?'

----

That was then and this was now.

"Hn." Starting with a noncommittal grunt, Logan forced himself to give an actual answer. " Do what you want. 'll wait."

"It might take some time." Ororo repeated herself, a more than subtle hint at her wish of having some time to herself. Sadly for her, trying subtle with Logan was as useful as trying to getting him drunk by showing him a single bottle of beer. It just wouldn't work, as made clear by the next words out of his mouth.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"I'd rather do it alone." This time around Ororo tried the direct route, getting about as much luck as the first time.

"An' I'd rather have a beer. But its not like that's gonna happen either."

"Logan…" An arched eyebrow, oddly playing against his forcibly relaxed demeanor, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his left leg bent with his boot flat against the wall, caused Ororo to stop with whatever argument she was going to put forth. Deciding that it was a better use of her time to do what she had come here for, she straightened up, squaring her shoulders and schooling her features into an impenetrable mask.

"Very well," was all she said before turning around and stepping to the edge of the sidewalk, looking both ways before crossing the road, all the while feeling a stare boring into her back.

---

A few minutes later,

'What's she doin'?' Logan frowned, trying to discern what was Ororo trying to accomplish by just standing there, in front of that office building, her head lowered as if in prayer. The way she stood, there but not quite, one would think that as far as Ororo was concerned she might as well have been the only person there, instead of being just one in a veritable river of people, all of whom either just neglected her or sidestepped to avoid bumping into the strange woman.

What non of the dozen of strangers or Logan knew was the reason for Ororo's coming to this place and her strange behavior. They did not know that it was here, that as a young child of only five and a half years of age, Ororo had lost not one but both of her parents all those years ago, before a plane crashed into the hotel that had stood here then, and long before the office building that had been constructed years after the debris had been cleaned off.

When she finally did turn, Logan's hackles rose, an involuntary growl burbling up his throat. 'What the…' There were tears in her eyes.

"Ororo?" He pushed himself of the wall and crossed the road.

There was no verbal response. All that there was the momentary meeting of eyes before the somber Ororo walked away, her slumped shoulders very much unlike her, the sudden graying of the clear bright sky mirroring her emotions.

----

A few hours later,

"You should leave."

"Not happening."

"Logan…I _want_ you to leave."

"Tough luck."

"You don't understand. The journey I am about to undertake…"

"Yeah?"

Hesitating for a couple of seconds, Ororo stood up and walked to the window, feeling the evening air flowing in to cool her body but doing nothing to assuage her emotions. Still facing away from the man lounging in on the couch, she resumed her explanation.

"The journey…It-Its one that I must go through alone. Besides, it might take longer if its two of us."

"Huh? What's that mean?" was Logan's frank return.

"I have done this once before." Ororo explained in a simple yet still somewhat roundabout manner. "The first time I did this, it took my almost a year to do it."

'The first time?' Logan stopped short. Granted he did not know much about Ororo's personal life or for that of matter the personal life of any other resident, teacher or student, from what he had heard, Ororo didn't have any _family_ outside the institute and hadn't taken that long a break from the institute.

"An' now?"

"If I'm alone, I maybe able to do it in about a month….a month and a half."

'A year? A month and a half?' That was cutting the travel time to less than a sixth, maybe even lower. "How's that?"

"By riding the winds."

And just like that, as far as Logan was concerned, the conversation took a turn into the surreal. 'Riding the winds?' Granted Ororo did not weigh all that much, but unless…

"Huh? You wanna try that in English?"

Turning around to face him, Ororo tried in a _layman's_ language. "Its my power. I am able to channel the winds to levitate and carry myself along their currents."

"You fly!" Logan exclaimed. Where did this aspect of her power come from?

"Not quite."

"What do you mean _'not quite'_?"

"It-Its…" Ororo did not want to go into the details of how her powers worked and also did not want to give a practical display. "Its complex."

"Hn."

"So I suggest you take your leave." It was back to the first point that had started the conversation. "You can either meet me here….no, that won't work. You…"

"Will be going with you." Logan's cut in, completing the sentence…with all the finesse of a brick to the head.

"Logan." Ororo's frustration was sounding clear in the voice. The only reason she had agreed to the Professor's _request_ of taking Logan with her was because she had thought that she would be able to get him to leave. In fact, knowing what little she knew about him, she had thought that Logan would practically jump to it, if not bringing it up himself.

"What?" Logan growled back, wishing, not the first time that he was back in Canada, nursing a chilled bottle of beer, its two dozen or so 'Canadian only' _sisters_ lined up waiting for him to pick hem up. Heck, he would be take any other place too, as long as it got him away from this stalemate. 'Shit. Xavier told me that there won't any whining from her.'

"I told you the reason it has to be just me. I think you can appreciate…."

"No." Once again the teaspoon deep Wolverine patience dried up. "You told me a reason why it _could_ be just you. And seein' that you haven't said it, I take that this flyin', ridin' shi….thing, with that you can't carry someone else with you."

Slightly taken back at the rather unexpected question, Ororo mused on the reason behind it. Did he expect her to carry him? "I-I never tried. The only person who was able to do it was…." She stopped midway, not wanting to add even more oil to the fire.

Seeing her stop, Logan pointedly looked at her.

Jean. That was the name that was left unsaid as Ororo steered clear of it to carry on.

"Moreover, even if I could I am not sure that I could carry someone with your weight…at least not for a long period of time, or over long distances."

"Hn." Another noncommittal grunt belied Logan's surprise. 'Long period of time? Long distances? Where is she plannin' on going frem here?'

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Letting out an audile sigh, Logan slapped his thighs, his heavy boots thumping on the floor, his legs straightening to lift his up.

"When do you wanna leave?

'He is leaving.' Ororo was surprised at her surprise. What else did she expect him to do? Hadn't she thought that he would leave? So why such a reaction?

"I think I'll take my leave early in the morning. Just before sunrise."

"…"

"Until then we could…"

"Anythin' else?" This time it was Logan's turn to snap, his tone of a frustrated realization, one that Ororo took coming from having to accede to her arguments.

"What? Uh-nothing."

"'m goin' out." Logan started for the door. "Don't know when I'll be back. You need anythin'?"

"No. Nothing."

He was nearly at the door when remembering what she had started to say a few seconds before, Ororo called out.

"Logan."

"Yeah?"

"What about dinner?"

"You have it. 'm not hungry."

And just like that, he was gone, the door slamming shut behind him.

---

Later that night,

Lying the dark, intermittent lightning flashes lighting up night sky and the room, Ororo listened to the storm raging outside. All she heard was the thunder booms and not what she was straining to hear in….some sort of sound from the room next door.

01:17. The dull red glow of the digital clock silently blared at her, telling her that it had been almost seven hours since Logan had left, not her room, but from the _sounds_ of it, even his.

Ororo had waited, both sitting up and now after tossing and turning for more than two hours….waited to hear any sound to tell of Logan's return.

Even if he had decided to leave, she didn't think that he would do so without bidding farewell...or at least telling her. After all, when he left a few hours ago, it wasn't like he had said that he was going to leave. Just that he was going out.

Then again, how well did she know Logan. Not that well at all. Leaving the last month, and the time he spent unconscious in the infirmary, his time at the school could be collected to a few hours. Even the last month, he spent most of his time either outside with the workers, in his room or who knows where…especially on his late nights and weekends out and away from the mansion. For all purposes, he might have as well have been living in a motel…albeit a five star one.

Continuing with her twisting and turning, Ororo did not realize when her body finally gave in and she fell asleep, waking up hours later at the morning call for prayer from the mosque nearby. Having spent a better part of her childhood in this city, she knew the Azan quite well and what it signified for a devout Mohammedan…especially when her 'teacher' had been one himself.

Rising slowly, she made her way, to the window, pushing it open completely to allow the cool morning air in, removing any remnants of sleep. After that, she headed towards the bathroom, stopping midway at the thump from the other side of the wall.

Logan was back.

---

Even as she started towards the door, a heavy announced that the man in question had beat her to the punch.

Good. She was worried that she might miss meeting him before she departed.

Unlocking and pulling the door open, she saw that not only had he returned, Logan had also bathed, (clear from his wet, slicked back hair), he changed his clothes, donning only a white skin tight t-shirt and dirt brown shirt, the shirt completing unbuttoned.

'Maybe he is also going to check out and leave.' Thought Ororo, the duffle bag slung over his left shoulder making it even more clear.

"Good morning Logan." She greeted graciously, her voice still husky from sleep. "I thought that I missed you."

Oblivious of her disheveled appearance or just plain neglecting it, Logan merely grunted a good morning, and held out what seemed like a folded pamphlet or a…

'A Map?'

"Yer navigatin'," he ground out, turning around to leave and flinging over his shoulder. "Come down when yer done. I am gonna check us out."

'_Us?'_ What did he mean. "Logan." She called out, looking up from the map, only to realize that he was gone.

---

The second, if not the fastest bath of her life, a quick change of clothes, literally shoving her belongings inside her carry bag and Ororo hurried out, practically flying down the stairs before coming to a screeching halt at seeing Logan calmly lounging by the front door, his back to her.

Going to the reception to return the key and she headed towards the seemingly cool as cucumber Wolverine. Barely five feet away when, detecting her presence, Logan pushed himself off the steps, slapping and brushing the dirt off the denim.

Even before she could speak, he jerked his head towards the parking lot, starting down the stairs. "There."

"There?" Ororo did not move. "What? What's there?"

"Our ride. One that'll get both of us going." It was a rather large and seemingly equally old Mercedes G-Wagon. What made it stand out even more, was the way it was loaded, both inside and out, complete with a foldable tent, sleeping bags, six large cans of some liquid, water or fuel, Ororo could not make out, and only Logan knew what else.

"Logan?" Ororo did not know what to say.

"You wanted to follow yet route and said that you wouldn't be able to carry us both."

"Yes."

"Now you won't have to. Get in. Just toss yer bag in the back. There ain't no back seats. Removed them. AC works, but only front middle vents. Got nothing else."

Walking while explaining, it took Logan a couple of seconds before he realized that Ororo had stopped at the steps and was still there…staring at him.

"_What?"_ He belatedly tried to soften his tone, not wanting to get into yet another 'Go-Stay-Go-Stay-Fuck off' argument.

"I-I thought…." Ororo trailed off.

"That I left." Logan completed her thought, but without telling her that he almost had.

"…" Her eyes did not meet his. "Yes."

"Gave Xavier my word. Ain't gonna go back on it." And there it was. If nothing else, his _word_ was the one thing that Logan had to call as his own, and he would be damned if he shamed it.

"Oh." Ororo sighed, not quite sure what to make of his answer. One part of her was glad that he did not leave, another accepted it, while yet another one was put off by his stubborn behavior.

"Now get in," the gruff command announced the end of any introspecting time. "Flip open the map and point….in the right direction."

Still getting no movement, even after he had walked around to the driver side door and got in, Logan called out again, a little louder but not as harsh.

"'Ro. _Ororo_."

"Huh?"

"Get in."

"Oh." Giving in, the fight leaving her body, Ororo quietly go in, occupying the only other seat in the filled to near bursting car.

Seconds later, ensconced in the safe confines of their ride, the dysfunctional duo pulled out of the parking lot….

…heading out on the next leg of their journey across the north-east Africa.

-

-

* * *

**_Note:_** My depiction of Egypt and other (upcoming) countries is based on all that I am able to find from a precursory search on the net. Please don't flame for any inconsistency. 

Next, Ororo and Logan sitting in a…Mercedes Truck!

Please Review!


	4. The Wizard of…X?

**04. The Wizard of…X?**

**Summary:** Things aren't going so well for Logan. And what did Xavier do…not only to him but also to Ororo?

* * *

"Fuck flamin' fuck." 

Curses, both controlled and expletive, were practically gushing forth from the lips of a very angry Logan. "Who the _hell_ she thinks I am?" He growled to no one in particular, raising his hand to slick back his dripping wet hair, his face scrunched with his eyes narrowed due to the torrential downpour lashing against him.

Having parked the truck at the side of the road, he had been stomping through the usually dry desert like countryside, his senses at highest alert trying to catch any trace, any scent…that is from the ones that the rains hadn't already washed away.

'Told her I'd take her.' He cursed at yet another change in the weather, this one bringing hail with it. "But _no_. I to have to do it alone." He scoffed at the reason that Ororo had given to him. It was less of a reason and more of a chant for her, one that she had been using for near about everything.

'If she has to do it alone, what the fuck am I doing playing tagalong?'

"Oh, yeah," he growled an answer to his own question, wincing seconds later as one of the quarter sized icy round balls struck him, right in the eye. "I know why. 'cause of Xavier that's why. Frickin' Cue-Ball." He cursed at the man responsible for his current state.

Professor Charles Francis Xavier.

---

_/Flashback/_

"_Yeeya'ello. You have reached the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters or better known as Hormone Central. Chief Ward…_

'_Lee!' The overtly cheerful voice of Jubilation Lee greeting him was the last thing Logan needed right now. 'What is she doing at this number?' "Where's the Professor?"_

"…_den." Jubilee stopped short at the familiar snarl from the other end of the line. "Wolvy?" She inquired hesitantly only to go full force forward at Logan's affirmatory grunt. "WOLVIEE! Where are you? How's Ororo? How are you guys…."_

"_Where the fu…where's Xavier?" Not easy on the ears at the best of time, Jubilee's high pitched rattle only served to fan Logan's anger, his claws extending, not passing skin but just enough to sting through it. "And what are you doin' at his private number?"_

"_Oh this," Jubilee didn't even seen to skip a beat. "The Professor has to go to Washington to attend some conference or something and with Ororo and Scott not there, he asked us guys to…."_

'_Scott!' Logan stopped short, snapping at Jubilee to do the same. "Wait up. What do you mean Scott's away? Where'd he go?"_

"_Oh he…he…" Jubilee grappled for a plausible explanation, anything to avoid telling Logan the truth. The truth that not twenty four hours after he and Ororo boarded their plane for Cairo, Scott Summers had also departed from the mansion, using the silence of the night to slip away to god knows where. "He left." Jubilee hoped that this explanation would be enough for Logan. After all, even she knew well enough how much Scott and Logan cared for each other….not._

"_What do you mean he left? Where'd he…."_

"_Oh lookie," Jubilee practically leapt at the respite. "The Professor's here."_

_The sound of a hand being placed on the receiver and a muffled explanation of who it was and what she had just inadvertently revealed told Logan that Jubilee dumped the mess into Xavier's capable hands and hightailed it out of the his office. As for Xavier, even he was having second thoughts of this rotation of assistants that he had set up, with Kitty, Jubilee, Rogue, Bobby and Piotr, each getting one day. As the senior most students and junior X-Men, it would be a learning experience for them. Or at least that was what it was intended to be. But with their varied personalities and quirks, it was turning out to be an experience or test rather…one of his patience._

_A clearing of a throat and the polished cultured voice of Charles Xavier sounded through the phone lines, his greeting being cut short as Logan pounced on him._

"_What happened to Scooter? Where'd he go?"_

"_Scott…" Logan could almost see that one particular nerve on Xavier's head doing that gentle throb, the one that told all about his 'ruminatinations' to come up with a plausible reason. "He is in Alberta right now."_

"_Alberta? What's he doing there?" Logan's counter question was just as instant._

"_Alberta. Oh, sorry about that," Xavier's (for him) hurried correction came back a second later. "I wanted to say Alaska. He's in Alaska right now, visiting family."_

'_Family? Scooter's got family…away from the institute.' Logan was rather surprised by the news, all for a moment, right until he realized that if he did not have any family it wasn't like that the others didn't. After all, didn't he go that Bobby kid's house. Where is fuckin' punk of a brother sold them out. Grrr._

"_Please forgive my slip," Xavier repeated his apology. "Things have been rather hectic today."_

"_What happened?" Logan inquired, hoping that whatever it was, it would require him and Ororo to return to the mansion. Anything…ANYTHING to get away from Ms. Cold Cut and her 'my shit don't stink' attitude._

"_Nothing you need to worry yourself over. No emergency." The Professor's words elicited yet another growl from the frustrated Wolverine, as he swore that Xavier was reading his mind…and deliberately making me stay here…all to get his 'telepathic' kicks._

"_What then?" 'Come on Chuck, give me something to work with here.'_

"_We are preparing for the new teachers that will be joining us." 'Ugh. Anything but this.' New punter or punters coming in, now that would mean even more free time for Ororo to do whatever she was here for. Meaning more even more of her scintillating company for him._

'_Yay for me. Fuck.'_

"_How are you and Ororo doing?" Xavier started with his questioning. "I hope that the flight to Cairo was uninventful."_

"_Yeah, 'was okay." Logan grunted noncommittally. "Uh Chuck."_

"_Yes Logan."_

"_When you asked me to come here with Ororo…"_

"_Yes." Xavier knew that this moment would come and yet had hoped against hope that it wouldn't. That Ororo wouldn't do what he expected her to do._

"_You talked it over with her, didn't ya?" Logan growled, schooling himself from going off against the old man. Had it been anyone else, they would have had the entire riot read to them, and then be beaten senseless with the book. But not Chuckie…not for such a small thing anyway._

"_Yes." Xavier returned, along with a question of his own. "Why? Did something happen?"_

"_Yeah. She says she don't want me here." Logan growled, the frown etched on his face deepening as he recalled the 'conversation' he had had with Ororo._

"_Oh."_

_The way Xavier sighed, Logan knew that such a reaction had been anticipated._

"_Don't worry," he spoke, his 'common sense' cursing him as each word came out. "I ain't leavin'."_

"_You aren't?"_

'_What the Fuck? Did he expect me to leave her here?' That he was thought of so less by even Cue-Ball, stung Logan's self-respect and the Wolverine's pride. "What else do you think I am going to do?" He snarled. "Leave here in a dump like this? Shit Charles, I told you I'd stay with her. Didn't I?"_

"_Yes Logan." Xavier apologized. "Forgive me for thinking so less of you."_

"_I don't give a fuck what you or anyone else thinks about me." Okay there was a small lie in that. Even as much he would deny, there were a few people whose opinion counted for Logan, and Xavier was one of them. "But it was you who came to me for help and once I said I'd do it, it means I'll do it….no matter what. Understood."_

"_Yes." The response was slightly subdued._

"_Yeah. Fine." **-Click-** Logan let the handset slide back into the cradle._

_Now, how did this happen? Hadn't he called Xavier to tell him to get Ororo to come back….so that 'he' would get a way out._

_So how the fuck had he managed to dig himself even deeper into this?_

_Shit._

_/End Flashback/_

---

"Fuck." Logan cursed again, this time because of the rain pelting overhead. Finally having caught a scent of the elusive weather witch, he had started up the steep slope of a hill near the town they had last stopped at.

That was another thing that he did not understand. Why did they have to stop in all so many godamned places. If she wanted to get to wherever it was that she wanted to go, why not just directly go to it, instead of setting up tent in each and every piece of shit place.

"I need to do this alone." He had stopped counting the number of times these words or a twist on them he had had to hear in the last three days. If he had been someone else or if he hadn't said so to Xavier 'twice over', he would have just as soon let her go, catching the next flight back to New York and heading for the hills himself…or in his case, the Canadian Rockies.

It wasn't enough that he had to house sit with a bunch of kids, now he had to baby sit their teacher too. She was supposed to be gone for two hours, and now it was almost five. What was he supposed to with her to keep a track of her? Take her rope and tie himself to her? Yeah, that would surely go well with her.

"Crazy broad."

Tracking her from the thin sliver of a scent that he had finally get a hold on, Logan continued his climb up the hill, a slight shiver running up and down his metal laced skeleton at the way the temperature continued to plunge with every few feet.

'What's she going to do now? Make it snow?'

By the time he pulled him up a steep edge, his eyes finally catching sight of his elusive _charge_, not only was cold unbearable (for a normal person), Logan had had the tips of his wild hair frozen off, the freeze slowly moving down to his scalp.

'Yup. Just peachy. Got a buttload of metal in me and if this witch doesn't shock it down, she's going to freeze it off.'

Freezing cold on the outside and burning rage on the inside, both of them petered away as, lifting his eyes to the heavens, having to clear his sight by brushing off the frozen droplets on his lashes, Logan stopped, his hand still in the air….as he stared at the sight about a hundred feet up.

Not quite believing it, he shook his head once, twice…thrice, only to look up and see the same thing.

'What's she doing?' was the first question that flashed across his mind. 'She even know what she's doing?' was second, followed by the all important third. 'What the fuck she's doing out there with no clothes on?'

Although, on his trek up, he had made his mind to give her the verbal thrashing that she would remember, if not for a lifetime at least for the next few weeks, seeing her like this he opted for something that he hadn't even thought about. He decided to _let_ her do whatever that she was doing…well, for a few more minutes. Why was he was doing this, he did not know? Maybe it reminded him of he used to lose himself in the wilderness…allowing himself and his powers to run free, letting the beast out? Or maybe, he wasn't quite sure that even if he tried, he wouldn't be get through to her…not in her current state.

It almost looked like as if she was up there, talking to someone, not with words but with her powers, her body…her entire being.

'The view's not bad either. She's sure got a _set _on her." He growled in appreciation, thankful for the effect it was having on him. In this cold, he could sure use the heat it generated. 'Never woulda guessed with the clothes she wears. What does she do? Tape 'em up?"

---

For Ororo, time had stopped still, her communion with the Goddess bringing her peace…even it was only going to be a momentary one. She knew why the Professor had broached the topic of her taking a break, of visiting her home. It was something that she had expressed a wish for only a couple or so times over the years, but hadn't given much thought to. She had grown up to think of the institute as her home too, having spent the better part of a decade there, only a few years less than she had here in Africa.

"You could use the break. It has been a long since she took one. It will help you…" Xavier had paused, allowing the idea to find her hold with her. "….refresh."

Even though she knew that the Professor was consciously abstaining from reading the thoughts of any of the mansion's residents, Ororo could have sworn that he had read hers...not at that very moment, but a couple of days ago. She had been in her greenhouse, when all of a sudden, a wave of extreme longing had washed over her. A longing for a time when her world was a small one, her life simple…a time of her life before there were any X-Men or Charles or Scott….or Jean.

"Professor…" her hesitation had been enough for the older experienced man. "I cannot."

"Why?" Opening her mouth to respond by pointing out her responsibilities and the current shortage of teachers in the school, Ororo got beat, Xavier anticipating and beforehand responding to her counter. "We already have two teachers joining us, not to mention the upcoming Christmas and New Year vacations."

"But…"

"Also, I was thinking of extending the holidays this year, to four instead of the usual two weeks." Xavier did not allow her to through, knowing that he was possibly the only person in the mansion anymore who could convince her to do what even she knew she needed but what she would not do, sweeping it away under the carpet of duty and responsibility. The only other people who could have done the same…to an extent were Scott and Jean. But seeing that that was no longer possible, it was up to him to…to lie to her. "It will not only help the students to relax after the recent events, it will also help them recover…I have invited Moira for the same purpose."

'Four weeks? Why?' Ororo's question got lost at the name of Dr. Moira Mctaggert. One of the Professor's closest friends, she was not only an accomplished geneticist, she had also, over the years gained a reputation (among her friends) as a sort of a counselor for 'special' cases, many of whom were mutants.

"Ororo…" Having expressed his wishes, and also giving an ideal opening for her to take a break, Charles urged his former student to speak.

"When do you want me to leave?" The way Ororo voiced it, it looked as if she was being made to go under duress, and that was the last thing that Xavier wanted. He wanted it to be her decision…her choice.

That's why he worded his response very carefully.

"If you do decide to take a temporary break, you can do so when it suits you.. Just let us know in advance so that arrangements can be made for your journey…and return." He deliberated.

"…yes Professor."

---

In the here and now, well, almost an hour later,

"What are you doing here?"

Having dried herself and her clothes, and having donned them, Ororo barely contained her gasp at seeing Logan walking up towards her.

"You said two hours." Logan grunted, somewhat surprised at how fast she had managed to dry herself when he was left as wet as a shaggy dog on a rainy day.

"I did." The way that snowy eyebrow arched at him, Logan was sure that she was trying to make her words sound more as a question than as a statement.

"Yeah. Almost six are passed now."

"And?"

'Aw hell, not again. What is _with _her?' frowned Logan. 'Up there she seemed so peaceful. Do I got _'fuck me over'_ plastered on my mug?'

"Don't let it happen again." He bit back.

That eyebrow, already high, practically climbed to the sky now, its partner joining it, as the calm from only a few minutes ago being replaced by a rising anger…the sadness that weighed heavy on her returning along with it.

'Did he just order me?'

"You are not my master. Do not _dare_ to act as you are." Ororo snapped back in a rather uncharacteristic manner…for her, the biting venom on her voice surprising Logan and causing him to pause himself…all for a couple of seconds, seconds which were enough for her to step past him, and head down the hill.

Turning around, Logan not only caught sight of her back as she descended on her winds, he also realized something else.

She had taken the easy route, leaving him alone to have to foot it down.

"Fuck."

-

-

* * *

**_Note:_** Sneaky Xavier eh? Also 'apologies' for no literary flowers from the great literary minds of Jubilee (and her friends). Don't worry, I ain't done yet and neither are they.

Apologies for the delayed update. I was busy with RL and my site ( and haven't got almost any writing done these past tene days or so. Will try to get the net chapter ready soon. Warning about it...it might be a little on the angsty side...for this fic (and series) that is. Nothing like my other fics though (Cleansing, Yesterdays & Tomorrows).

Please Review!


	5. Logan’s Glum

_'S2: The Story' update of the week. Finished it early...so am posting it early!_

_BW

* * *

_

**05. Logan's Glum**

**Summary:** Not much about Logan…or Ororo for that matter, well, not directly. (Title from 'Logan's Run')

_For Ororo, the mansion even with all its luxuries, with all of its cleanliness (.especially after the repairs), even with all of the life there might as well have been a cold, unfeeling grave…a living tomb of sorts._

_At first, in the days following their return from Alkali Lake, it had been…easy. The somber air that hung in its halls made it easier for her to ignore her own pain, almost as if dissipating it. She did not try, or even have the time to analyze herself, sit back and think…and ask herself few very important questions._

'_What could we...I have done to prevent this from happening?'_

'_Why couldn't I have saved her…saved my best friend?'_

_And last of all…_

'_Why did it have to be her? Why not me?'_

_She knew that just like Jean, any of them would have and still would lay down their lives for each other and those around then. She knew that Jean, as an adult, had made a decision, not only for herself but also for the children._

_She knew all that…_

…_and knowing that did not make things easier._

'_If only I had had the courage, the inner strength, the poww...'_

---

**ThudThudThud**

"Rogue. Hey, Rogue! Open up." The sudden thumping against the door and the unmistakable high pitched tone caused the person within the room to slip up, her finger pressing onto the last button she had it on, the word 'power' stretching out into a comical 'powww…' of old time cartoons and comics.

Had it been any other time, even Rogue would have laughed at it…but not now. Moreover, not only wasn't she in a chirpy mood, she also wasn't feeling very sociable. If anything, she wanted to be left alone…alone with her thoughts, closed off within the living prison that was her body.

Using a gloved hand to wipe away at her damp eyes, she cleared her throat and called out, her voice slightly hoarse. "What'd ya want?" She hadn't thought that anyone would look for her here…well, anyone except Jubilee and to an extent, Kitty.

"What are you doing in there?" Returned Jubilee. Trying the stubborn door knob and failing again, she gestured towards Kitty to do her thing, to phase them in…only to get a head shake from the other girl.

"Why?" Questioned the Asian firecracker, contemplating whether to try to kick the door in or _paff_ the lock out.

"Its Mr. Logan's room," Kitty pointed out the obvious only to get a, "I know that," shot back at her.

"So that…"

"Go ahway." Rogue's voice muffled through the wood interrupted Kitty's explanation. "Ah'm working."

"Rogue," this time Kitty was the one who spoke. "We were looking for you."

"Whaht d'ya want?"

"Uh…we," hesitating with her answer, Kitty turned to Jubilee, who picked one of many answers from her _arsenal_ and ran with it instantly setting all the blame back on her perky yet somewhat naïve roommate.

"Kitty couldn't find her laptop. We were wondering if you had…"

"Ah have it. Ah'll give it later…tehll Kitty thanks." There, that ended that particular line of conversation.

"What do we do now?" Questioned Kitty, deliberately keeping her voice low. With the way Rogue had been acting lately, even she was worried now.

"Well, we have three options," Jubilee was quick to the mark. "One, we could get in and see what exactly is she so busy with that she had to retreat to her _Cave of Solitude_." She started using her nickname for the way Rogue used Logan's room, even more so during his absence.

Not only did the feral Canadian give Rogue a free run on his room, he had even gone so far as putting up an extra bed in one corner. It (the bed), served two purposes, one to allow Rogue a place to rest when the nightmares made staying her room too unbearable, and secondly so that she wouldn't be in danger of getting skewered if and when Logan drew one (a nightmare) from his own _treasure chest_.

The day he was leaving with Ororo, Logan had taken out his keys and turned them over to the girl. Ever since that day, Rogue was found more in that room than in hers, the reason for which both Kitty and Jubilee had suspicions about but never questioned her. They were pretty sure it had something to do with Bobby, after all, he too had all of a sudden done a one-eighty on his personality and become a younger version of how Mr. Summers was…or rather how he _used to be_.

"I told you I am not going to phase into Mr. Logan's room," Kitty ended that option. "Not even when he is not there."

"Hmph," Jubilee frowned, more at herself than at Kitty. Maybe she should have given a more _dedicated_ try at confusing Kit-Kat. Well, onto the next option. "We could just go and let her come out herself."

"And three?"

"We could bang on the door, call out loudly, yell a lot and get everyone …"

"I vote for option two," Kitty didn't even let her complete describing what lay behind door number three.

"You sure?" Jubilee questioned, still contemplating about her third option.

"Yup." Pushing herself away from the wall she had been leaning against, Kitty started down the hall. "Now come on, TBS is showing 'Paperback Hero'. If we hurry we won't miss much of it."

"No way am I going to go subject myself through that sap-fest again, " Jubilee's yelled behind her friend's back. "What is with you and Hugh Jackman? How many times have you seen this movie?"

"Ooh, buts he's sooo dreamy," Kitty slowed down to fan herself. "Sooo…hot."

"Sooo _Gay!_" Jubilee supplied with a scrunched up face. "Even more so in that movie and that Broadway show he's in. Anyways, I've got the perfect movie lined up for us. A kickass one, just right for my monthly 'pay per view' choice."

"Oh, which one?" Kitty inquired, frowning at how she had splurged her own one movie per month allowance on Van Helsing. Even poor Hugh with all his hotness couldn't hold up that movie.

"Pirates of the Caribbean," answered Jubilee, complete with a mock brandishing of a sword…well, in her case, her pen.

"Oh. Really!" Well, guess she could made could with Orlando and Johnny. Together, the two of them could fill Hugh's gap…._almost_. But what would Jubilee want with a movie like that? Did she have a crush…

"Yeah," Jubilee snapped her fingers. "Did you see the zombies in that." _ACK!_  
"They look real enough to be alive."

"Huh!" Even at the best of times, Kitty wasn't sure about Jubilee's sanity and at times like these, she didn't even dare to try to make head and tails of how someone perpetually hopped up and by her own admission 'bursting at the seams' _horny_ girl like Jubilee could find zombies more interesting than Johnny or Orlando or even Hugh. Not that she'd allow him to horn in on him. He was just hers.

However, all those thoughts fled as the girls caught sight of Peter and Bobby coming up the front stairs, their destination same as the girls.

"Kitty," taking her roommate's slip wrist in a tight grip, Jubilee murmured in her most commanding voice. "Phase. _NOW!_"

---

Back in Logan's room, feeling even more sad than she previously was, Rogue was berating herself at the way she had treated her friends. After all, it wasn't like they wanted anything else than to help her….just like good friends should.

"An' whaht did Ah do?" She wondered aloud, as if voicing her question for the _permanent_ resident of the room.

'Turn them away.' The answer, just as the question, came from within her. 'Ya shouldn' have done that. Ya ain't even a good friend.'

And that only made her feel even worse. Yet another thing she couldn't do like normal people.

Even her efforts of self help by writing her own thoughts through 'Ororo' weren't helping.

"After all, Ms. Monroe ain't evah gonna feel like muh, feel so useless, so….alone."

---

Back in Africa,

What neither Rogue nor even her co-authoring roommates knew was how close she was in her depiction of the way the 'Real Life' Ororo was feeling right now, and that her conscious had raised its head against her treatment of Logan wasn't helping things at all.

The truth was, even though she knew herself that she _needed_ this, Ororo couldn't feel as if she was running away, from her responsibilities, how she should have acted…how she should have stayed back at the mansion.

In the month between returning from Alkali Lake to when she came here, Ororo could count on her fingers the number of times she had left the mansion grounds, seemingly afraid of what would happen if she did. After all, look where the previous trip got her….got Jean. If they had stayed back, they would have been able to stop Stryker and mercenaries at the mansion itself and things wouldn't have gotten out of hand. Jean would still be here. She would still have been alive.

'Death is just another step in the never ending circle of life.' How easy was it to say those words and how difficult to actually live with them.

'It is easy for Mother Nature.' she had started to curse, stopping herself as she realized the duplicity of her words. After all, how could a mother, be it human, animal or even nature, how could she find the passing away of any of her children…_easy_.

And yet, as with everything in nature, life continued around her. Jean's passing might and did affect those near her but in the larger scheme of things, if had about as much effect as drop of water in a engorged river.

But who would tell that to Scott, after all, he and Jean had literally built a small world of their own with and around each other. They had so many plans, a few of which Jean had confided with her best friend. They were planning for their wedding, a small ceremony, just within the mansion boundary, but out on the open ground. Jean was going to invite her parents and Scott, Scott had even chosen who he wanted to be his best man. All that remained was putting the plans into action, making the dreams a reality….the same dreams that would forever remain just that, dreams.

Just not for Scott.

For him, those beautiful memories and mental visualizations of his and Jean's plans, they had turned into nightmares, ones that even in the light of the day never left him alone.

Ororo had seen him many a time, walking towards the gazebo, walking along the path that the very first batch students of the students, _them_, had built with their own hands. At the time it had all been an exercise in 'fine tuning' their powers, to try and use them for constructive purposes and not just fighting. It was the same path along which Scott and Jean had taken their first steps together, their hands hesitantly searching out and entangling with each others.

The gazebo used to be their special meeting place, and even now, with his clothes _ripe_ from having been worn for more than two days, his cheeks hollow, his gait tired…even now, even after all that, Scott still made a point to visit the gazebo at least once a day. And every single time, he had something of Jean's with him, a piece of clothing, her journal, even small things like the brush she used or her towel that had (to him) still carried some remnant. He held them close to his heart, as if trying to use his heart beat to form a link with her in the afterlife, similar to the psychic one they had before….before she was taken away from him.

---

Still lost in her thoughts, Ororo lurched forward against her seatbelt holding, noticing for the first time that they were in what looked like a small town.

Her companion, without even so much as a glance towards her, flung open his door and stepped out of the truck, stretching his body and cracking his neck to work out the kinks that had set in from over six hours of non-stop driving.

As for Ororo herself, knowing what she was supposed to do, she clicked her own belt and door open, slipped out and went through the same stretching steps, frowning slightly at the tension and fatigue along her neck and upper back.

Heaving a sigh, she went around the truck, conversing with the pump attendant to tell Logan how much would he need to pay. Given the language barrier for Logan, it fell to her to do all of the talking, especially in a place like this….their last proper stop for the next three thousand kilometers.

Once she had explained to the young man that he would also need to fill up the four large seventy-five liters plastic containers that Logan had bought for their upcoming journey, she left the two men to their devices, heading towards one of the four shops across the road, fully aware of Logan's dark eyes boring into her back.

He hadn't said one thing to her in their two day since their…disagreement at their last town stop almost thirty-six hours ago, and even though she knew that she _could_ say something to break the silence, Ororo didn't feel too inclined or even capable to do so…just yet. In fact, had she been anyone else, she would have left him alone there itself, taking to the skies and letting him wander by himself.

But that wasn't her way and what made things even more difficult was that she knew that the only reason that Logan hadn't left that first night itself was because of the Professor.

Now if only her conscious would stop troubling her.

---

_/Flashback/_

"_Is there a problem?" Seeing him sitting on his haunches next to the rear right tire, Ororo had walked up to Logan, breaking the self imposed vow of silence she had seemingly taken after their hill-top confrontation._

_Logan looked up at the serene but totally unemotional face of his traveling companion. _

_Seeing the blank expression on his face and knowing what was to come next, Ororo almost turned around and walked away. He could have just answered in a simple 'yes' or 'no', but then it wouldn't be the him, would it. The Wolverine's pride, still stinging from her outburst and no subsequent apologies, snapped back in true attack fashion. "You said something…to me?"_

_Gritting her teeth at being confronted by the same thing that her inner voice had been bugging her out, Ororo responded in her most 'official' tone. "Yes." As for the answer she got for that…._

_Turning back to fiddle with the tire, Logan grunted under his breath, but loud enough for Ororo to hear him. "Hn. Coulda fooled me."_

_That did it, "What is with you?"_

"_Me!" One thick eyebrow at arched at her, as letting go of the valve, Logan straightened up to tower above her. "What is with me?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Well, let me see," balling his fists, Logan raised them to above waist level._

_**-SNIKT-** One claw shot out. "I don't know why I am here, except for why Xavier asked me to. He told me that it was fine with you, which obviously it isn't."_

_**-SNIKT-** A second one. "I sure as hell don't want to be in a place where the fuckin' mosquitoes are bigger than a bear cub."_

_**-SNIKT-** Third. "And seein' that as there is no way out, for either of us…"_

"_No one is forcing you to stay here. You could just…" Ororo started only to stop as all three claws from the other hand shot out…all at the same time._

"_You know what…" Logan growled, his senses noticing him how the weather patterns around them had started to change. _

"_What?" The way Ororo stood before him, her own arms crossed at her chest, it only served in making Logan even more angry._

_Hazel eyes stared and battled against deep blue ones, with both mutants barely hanging onto their control._

_**-SNAKT-**_

"_Never mind," the claws went back in but the words attacked. "Its not like you give a damn about it anyway."_

_Fighting an urge to slap him across the face, or better yet electrocute his metal filled body, Ororo did the only thing she could do to make a quick getaway before she truly lost control over herself._

_Walking away, she stopped at the front of the truck, and answered over her shoulder. "No, I don't. Nor do I want to._"

"_Feelin's Fuckin'mutual." 'Ice Witch.'_

_/End Flashback/_

---

Now,

"You were right."

Pulling out on the town, heading along the soon to end road into the ocean of sand stretching out before them, their heads turned away from each other, it took Logan a second to understand Ororo's words and even more time to respond.

"What?" Though schooled, his tone still carried a gruffness that had seeped these last few days.

"You were right," Ororo repeated her statement, turning her head to face her grizzled companion, his freshly washed hair rapidly drying and starting to set in their natural wolf-ear points. "There is no way for either of us to get out of this…specially now."

"…"

"So we should try to get along or at least not be at each other's throats."

"Hn."

"You want to say anything?"

"No." If she were expecting any other or a more elaborate reply, she wasn't going to get any. Not from the Wolverine and especially in the current situation.

Once again turning away to their respective windows, the duo resumed their brooding, both of them surprisingly having the same thought swirling around in their mind.

'_This cannot be over soon enough.'_

-

-

* * *

**Note:** Well, this chapter turned out serious (for this series), but then again, we do begin just after X2 ended, so I guess it worked out fine. As for Rogue n' her thoughts, it might or might not play a big part but as with Jubilee (and Kitty) her 'writing' is more a reflection, either clear or skewed of either Logan or Ororo (or both of them).

Please Review!


	6. Life Gives You Lemons…

**06. Life Gives You Lemons…**

**Summary:** …you use them to write a story.  
--------------------------------------------

"Maybe we should do a lemon."

"A lemon?" Seated on her bed, still garbed in her baby pink night-suit, Kitty Pryde, Shadowcat of the X-Men, sounded her surprise and confusion at the words that had just reached her ears. _A lemon!_

"Yup." The spiky haired head of one of her roommates, namely a certain fireworks shooting mutant one whose _appreciation_ for the color yellow bordered on the obscene, Jubilation 'Jubilee' Lee, nodded at her...rather vigorously, her gestures making Kitty wondered how her head didn't get knocked right off.

"You want to…do a lemon?"

"Uh-huh."

"For what?" Still not quite getting it, Kitty tried again; after all, it wouldn't be the first time that Jubes in her enthusiasm said or did something…_different_. Maybe she had meant to say that she 'needed' a lemon. Maybe she wanted to make lemonade. 'Or maybe lemon pie, or even lemon chicken.' Yum. Lemon Chicke…

"No you dumb-cat, not lemonade." Jubilee frowned at _her_ L'il Kitty's naïve ignorance. "By lemon I mean is a story with graphic…hardcore depictions of hardcore sexual acts. Hardcore." She let in a third for good measure.

'Graphic?' Kitty gulped, her eyes widening at the possibilities. 'Hardcore on top of hardcore? Twice over?' They widened even more. _'Hardcore.'_

Sensing that she had gone one hardcore too many, Jubilee waved her hand dismissively. "Okay okay, lose one of the _hardons_."

_Ack!_

Kitty scowled both at Jubilee for her double entendre and at herself for how even after more than three and a half years with the firecracker, she still managed to _waltz_ into her verbal traps.

"My dear Katherine," Jubilee went into 'super-polished mode' with her best Xavier impersonation and even fixing the collar of her own nightshirt…her _yellow_ nightshirt with matching yellow jammies, for added effect. "Please, do at least make an effort to stay with the program. The aforementioned lemon is not for use for your culinary _fantasies_ but to inject a certain grim and gritty noir into our first literary endeavor, not to mention oozing with sensually _titillating_ sweat…among other things."

"Wha-?" Kitty grappled at trying to make some sense of Jubilee's seemingly random use of _heavy_ words. 'Oh, no she isn't!' "Look Jubes-"

"What?"

"As it is-what I...we…aren't we already doing the _sensually titillating_," she raised her hands to make the double-quotes sign, "with the sex scenes you are already writing?" She blushed red at the memory of the last one. 'Oh ma, where did this girl get all this…this _imagination_ from?'

"Bah, that's nothing." Kitty's eyes shot up. _'Nothing!'_ "What I have in mind, in front of that this will look like a simple make out session, not even _base two_."

Now Kitty really did not want to know about it. Well, except for a small part of her - the one that inspite of all her _'good girl'_ efforts used to rear its heard every so often, the part that was a nearing adulthood teenage girl's raging hormones.

"Wh-What do you mean?" She inquired almost fearfully.

"Well, let see," and Jubilee was off, drawing on all of her vast _mental archives_ of erotic novels, online fan-fiction and especially the oh-so-secret porn flicks that she used to see with some of the other girls. 'Poor scaredy-cat,' she grinned at the memory of the first and only _adult feature_ that Kitty had seen with them…well, tried too. She didn't even make it through the half of the very first scene itself, growing so flustered that she phased right through the floor. 'And it had only been a double-Xer.' "We'll start in Africa or wherever the Professor sent Ororo and our sometime-no time-part time resident Wolverine, Mr. Sex-in-Nut-Squeezing-Denim himself."

"Yeah, but we are already there. Aren't we?" Kitty murmured, mentally scrolling back to where they had stopped at the previous sitting.

"_Girl_…" Jubilee snapped. "Don't interrupt me with such minor details. Its people like you that are deterrents to Pulitzer winning minds such as mine."

"Pulitzer, eh?" Kitty stuck out her tongue. "Sure. For what? Writing porn stories?"

"Not porn stories. Not at all, but for literary erotic masterpieces guaranteed to knock your socks off." Jubilee grabbed one of the many (yellow fabric covered) pillows from her bed and threw it the _naysayer_. It was right on target…though, thanks to Kitty's powers, it harmlessly passed through her.

"Dream on _Loser_!" Kitty retaliated with a fluffy projectile of her own.

"Okay, okay," Jubilee punched the heart-shaped pillow away. "Stop interrupting my artistic excellence."

A deep calming breath and she started again,

"So, where was I? Oh yes, they are in Africa, in the middle of nowhere…"

---

Elsewhere,

In Africa, in the middle of nowhere…

With her winds keeping her afloat and dressed in nothing else than what she had been born with, Ororo Monroe, the weather manipulating mutant Storm regarded the man lounging just a few feet below her. _Goddess above._

"What are you doing?" She broke the silence with her best _Ms. Monroe_ voice.

_Chirrrrrup-chirrrrup Chirrrrrup-chirrrrup_

Even with the desert setting, one could almost hear the crickets in the silence that followed her question. Not only was there no answer, the person…the _man_ in question did not even bat an eye, let alone turn his amused yet eerily primal gaze elsewhere.

"You mind looking elsewhere."

For a second it looked as if once again silence was all she would get. "Why?" He tilted his head to look directly up into her eyes. "Its not like I haven't seen any of it before." He arched an eyebrow at her, pointing back to their argument…_discussion_ from a few days ago. Even though Ororo had been rather surprised to see him there and suspected that he had been there for quite some time, she did not confront him about it. However, with this comment he had just confirmed her doubts.

Even though she did not feel ashamed of her body, she did value her privacy; both when indoors at the mansion…and outdoors, as here with just the two of them being the only humans (or mutants) for as far as the eye could see…even Logan's eyes.

Moreover, it wasn't like she was the only one with any clothing on.

Calling on an impromptu rain-shower, she had taken off on her winds, revealing in the freedom they provided while getting a much-needed cleansing shower. Returning more an hour later, she faltered midair, nearly loose control at the sight that welcomed her. A very wet Logan…a very wet and very_ naked_ Logan was calmly lounging in the rapidly thinning rainfall, looking more at home…more relaxed here in the wilderness, even it were African and not Canadian, than he had ever looked at the mansion or anywhere else for that matter.

Still, that he was without a stitch on didn't go unnoticed by Ororo, not that it could…unless she closed her eyes, even more so after she touched down on the wet desert sand. Granted that from her current position, she couldn't see all his _details_, but still she was sure that even with his hand carelessly draped across one thigh, it wasn't the tip of his finger that was peeking out at her…_winking_ at her. 'BLEH!'

On top of all that, given his placement, she would either have to walk past him to get to their truck and her clothing, or take off once again and go above him…way above him, and that would give him another point to hold above her. There was no way she was going to...

Almost as if sensing her thoughts, Logan chose that very moment to pipe up. "Scared?" he deadpanned. "Want me to cover up?"

'Ooh, the nerve of him.'

Thankfully, for both of them, it was too early for either of them to slip into their sullen and crabby moods, both by themselves and even more towards the other. That part came much later. It had almost become a routine for them. In the mornings, they would start cordially enough, almost as if they were not in the middle of the Sahara but back at Westchester. However, as the day progressed and so did their silent treatment of each other and their own introspections, things would get much less companionable.

"Scared?" She tossed the word back at him. "Of you?"

The look that she got in return said it all clearly. 'Yeah babe.'

"Delusions of grandeur." She shook her head and started towards the truck, making a conscientious effort to not do to him what she knew he was doing to her…_checking_ her out, right from the way her long wet hair stuck along the curves of her breasts to the gentle sway of her hips.

Sure that she had made it cleanly through, Ororo was just a hand's reach away from the truck door when the infernal voice sounded from behind her.

"Finally took care of yer legs, huh."

"What!" What was wrong with her legs? Even though she did not turn to look back at him, especially at hearing him get up and move, Ororo instinctively looked down.

"It had more hair than even I do."

'_Goddess.'_ Ororo cursed internally. 'Help me. Grant me the strength to not electrocute this man and his metal-filled behind.' She knew that he was deliberately egging her on. It was a daily routine of his…and in times of retaliation, even hers. 'Yes, only in those times.' After all, she detested violence of any kind…even again those who were practically _clawing_ for it.

--

Even though she hadn't said it aloud to him, or even to herself, lately Ororo had started to feel thankful for the Professor's suggestion for her to take a break and also for sending someone with her, even if that someone just happened to be the last person she would have thought of in the _'keeping company'_ way.

This was even more so in times when her self-loathing become so profound that it bordered on physically painful. At those times of desolation, she only needed to turn her head and there it was, there he was…a tangible proof of that she was not alone in this big wide world, that even if semi-forced and equally unwanted, there was someone there with her.

"If it hurts your eyes so much then why don't you stop staring like a hormonally charged teen," she finally tossed back while pulling on her shorts, rather surprised at his comment. 'He noticed it.'

It was true that it had been a good fifteen days since her last 'cleaning' but that was before her morning shower. Thanks to her powers, Ororo did not have to go the conventional route for removing unwanted body hair or even as frequently. Most of the times it wasn't even something that she had to do by reminder. Just a blast or two of _soft_ lightning and voila…smooth as silk skin, and all without the insane torture that was waxing. She had tried it once, during her earliest days at the mansion, intrigued by seeing Jean do it. Just one strip and the ensuing weather _imbalance_ had caused more than hundred thousand dollars in damages and that too just within the Westchester County.

'Jean vowed to never try that…' Ororo trailed off, her head and mood falling at the memory of her best friend, something that the now dressing himself, Logan easily detected.

Within a blink of an eye, her scent went from refreshingly light to sad, almost as if she was longing for something…_someone_.

What was he supposed to do now?

"At least she ain't crying like yesterday." He huffed under his breath knowing that she wouldn't hear him, not that she was paying any attention at all. What was Xavier thinking sending him along? He should have sent someone…someone…

'Who fuckin' someone?' It had become an exercise in futility for him. He would start by cursing the Professor for putting him in this position, going onto all the other freaks…_losers_. Scooter, Smelly-Elf, Tin-boy, Icepo, all of them got _hexed_ on a daily basis, some of them more than once.

Even the girls, Jubilee, Kitty, Siryn, Dani etc were not spared…after all, if not one, Xavier could have sent two or even more of them. 'Anyone but me.'

All of them got it, all except Rogue. There was no way that Logan would even think of hurting that girl. 'She's got too much of a raw deal, don't need any more crap…least of all from me. Not anymore than she already has.'

'But what about 'Ro?' After their last blowout before leaving that crap-heap town, the only time the two of them even talked was either this time of the day, or during dinner. Even that 'talking' was pretty much limited to, "You want more?" "Hn." Or, at best, "No thanks." That's it. All the other times, they ate inside the truck itself, using the leftovers from the previous night for breakfast and lunch for the next day.

'Maybe I should try to talk to her?' Logan scratched his five-day-old beard.

'Yeah, me _talk_ to someone, especially Ororo. Why not just get Buckethead to turn good…that would be easier.'

-

-

**Note:** Whew, finally…one is over. Haven't updated for quite some time and have not one but seven updates stuck mid-way. Am working on finishing them all and posting 'em soon (including the one from the 'deal' I made with CeeCee…_once upon a time_.)

Please Review!


	7. The Untouchables

**07. The Untouchables**

**Summary:** It's that time again…time for another quarrel…fight…well, you get the idea. Only this time, you get two for the price of one. As for Jubilee and her literary expertise, that gets put on the backburner…for now.

* * *

Sitting on opposite sides of the fire, the night settling around them, the _somewhat_ companionable duo busied themselves with partaking in their first fresh meal in almost ten days. Even though the idea of how it came to them had been more than a little putting off to her, even Ororo agreed that the antelope had been a godsend…or in her case, goddess-send.

Not that she would say it out aloud, least of all not to the man in front of her.

Still, she did want to say something to him. Something. _Anything_. Whatever would help to bridge the chasm of uncomfortable silence that had opened up between her and her travel companion.

_//Flashback//_

"_What is this?" The way she stared at him and then at the dead animal he had dropped on the ground not five feet from her feet, Logan might as well have thrown an alien in front of her._

"_Food," the response shot out, and even though she frowned in return, Ororo had expected no more and possibly even less from him. "What does it look like?" It was almost as if he had forced himself to speak those words, and knowing Logan, he most probably had._

"_I know what it is," Ororo's return had more sarcasm and less anger. "It is a Topi. They are very common here on…"_

_**-SNIKT-**_

_The shooting out of the metal claws from one hand interrupted her, as sitting down on his haunches; Logan began to skin the young buck._

"…_on the Serengeti." Ororo continued, crossing her hands at her chest. "But why did you have to get this. We already have food, and besides this is just a young one. Why…"_

"_I ain't eatin' anymore of that canned shit," Logan snapped at her, his hands continuing their deft actions. "Not today. Besides, it ain't like anyone's gonna miss it."_

"_What do you mean?" Ororo's frown deepened._

"_The mother's dead," Logan grunted without looking back at her. "The others just kicked it out. Sooner or later someone woulda found him. That or hunger. Either way, it was a goner."_

_He spoke from experience, his words a hard harsh truth, a truth that even Ororo knew about from having lived it. In the wild, it was survival of the fittest and for the young it meant the survival of their parents…usually the mother._

"_So, you chose to become the one who 'found him'," Ororo tossed his phrase back at him. "You could have just helped him."_

"_What else is this?" This time he did turn to her, but only because the skinning was complete. "This is help."_

"_Killing someone isn't help Wolverine," and just like that, even before either of them realized the conversation took a turn for the worse, the amusement dancing in Logan's eyes getting squashed by the cold hardness of the Wolverine._

"_Logan, I-," Ororo started, only to be silenced by a barely restrained growl._

"_I ain't Mother-**fuckin'**-Teresa," Logan snarled at her, his tightening fist around the animal skin causing even more blood to ooze out from it. "You don't like me, I could care less. I don't tell you how to live your life, or the lives of your fuckin' X-freaks."_

"_Lo-"_

"_This is the wild Ms. Monroe," he flung one hand to point to the side, the action causing blood to spatter all over the front of Ororo's shirt, and even on her neck. "You are hungry, you eat. You don't you die, if not from hunger than from animal bigger than you. It's the law of the jungle."_

"_I know that," already on a short tether, Ororo was quick to return. "I do not need you to tell me about it. I have lived it."_

"_Lived it? Hah!" Logan repeated those words, his tone almost jeering. "You might have lived, but you sure as hell don't remember it. You've gotten so uptight, so up your own ass that you've forgotten how to feel, how to live."_

"_What do you mean?" It was clear that they weren't taking about the dead Topi or even about the contradiction between the Wolverine's and the X-Men's philosophies. It was personal now._

"_You think I can't hear you crying, smell the salt in the air," Ororo blanked, her anger plunging into nothingness, a hidden fear wrapping itself around her aching heart._

_Her breath all but gone, she dumbly stared at the man before her, his breath coming in pants as well as his tense posture a clear indication of how angry he was._

"_Th-That has nothing to do with-"_

"_Sure it doesn't." Logan could not believe that he had actually considered trying to help this-this woman. Who was she to judge him, judge that he did, how he did or even the way he lived his life. No matter how bad, at least he was living it. He wasn't like her, a breathing shell of a living being. She was-was… Aww fuck, she was crying now. Even though she wasn't making a sound or even moving, the tears were right there, flowing down her cheeks. Yesterday night had been a particularly bad one for her. Maybe he should have let her rant out a bit, instead of biting her head off._

"_Look," Logan reeled himself in, as much as he could in his current condition. "I told you. There ain't no way we are getting outta this, not unless we go back the way we came. I did this 'cause we need to keep a reserve for the way back. You don't wanna eat it, then don't. Just don't tell…" he sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead and running it through his hair only realizing a second too late that in tired frustration he had forgotten that it was all bloody, the blood that was now all over his face and head. Fuck._

_//End Flashback//_

---

Elsewhere,

"Hey Drake!"

Bounding up the stairs Jubilee slid in beside the usually lively but currently sulking Iceman. Things hadn't been easy for him all with brother betraying him and the others to the police and his parents being all weird out about his being a mutant. 'What better a time for him to receive a visit by the local 'sugar' fairy.'

"Why the long face?"

At getting no answer from Bobby, Jubilee tried again. "Hey Iceboy. What's you got all melted out like a snowman in summer?"

"Nothing," Jubilee did not even need to see him turn away to know that it was a clear white-faced lie. His tone alone was a neon sign enough, one with three simple words emblazoned on it.

Leave. Me. Alone.

'What's up with him?' Jubilee frowned, wishing that Kitty or even better Rogue were there with her.

Speaking of Rogue, "Hey where's your girlfriend?" barely had the words left her lips that Jubilee found herself face to face with an extremely angry and clearly looking to burst at his seams, Bobby.

"She is NOT my girlfriend! Understood. She is, NOT. My. Girlfriend." The bellow rang out aloud in the thankfully empty hall. "She is not…not…" he repeated dejectedly. Pulling himself back and walking away, he left a startled and confused Jubilee standing behind him. She swore that she saw him wipe a stray tear from his eyes.

"What's with him?" Veering from her original destination, the Asian teen doubled back to and down the stairs leading the ground level. She was looking for the one person who might be able to give some answers about this new development.

Had it been someone other than this particular couple, Jubilee would have found the other half of the 'Newly Broken-Ups', but with Rogue acting the way she had been lately, it would be easier to find the Flying Dutchman than finding their elusive roommate, let alone getting her to talk. 'Heck, this last week, she's even sleeping in Logan's room…I think.' She frowned suddenly feeling rather low about how easily she had allowed one of her best friends to become so solitary and neglected. "But it's not like Roguey makes things any easier.'

That is why when she stepped into the library, it wasn't Rogue who Jubilee searched out, but her second roommate, Kitty.

---

Ten minutes and two rounds later,

"Hey Pete," Jubilee flopped down on the empty chair opposite to the muscled form of Piotr Rasputin, Colossus. "Seen Kitty around?"

"No." The answer was soft yet tight. The softness Jubilee understood, after all, it was the library, but the tightness and the way Peter's shoulders tensed up at the mention of Kitty's name, were enough of a tacit proof that everything wasn't happy-happy in the _Fatherland_.

"No, huh." Time to dig in a bit, press some buttons. "Yeah, like I am going to believe that you don't know where Kitty is. You two-"

"What do you two want Jubilee?" The question cut her short, as well as confirmed her suspicions. 'Oh God, not these two too. They even haven't gotten properly together yet.' "Okay buddy. What's wrong with you now?"

No answer.

"I saw Bobby just now. He didn't seem all that chippy."

Still nothing.

"Y'know, he and Rogue, they broke up."

"So, what do you want me to do?" That got a reaction; in fact, it got two reactions. "You don't you tell that to Katya. That is if she doesn't know it already."

Huh. _Wha-?_ What'd I miss? Hoo. _What the-_

Finally, "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" starting to speak whatever was on his mind, Piotr stopped midway. "Look Jubilee. Please leave me alone. I am not the best of company right now."

"Yeah, unlike just about every other time when you are a barrels of laughs," Jubilee cringed at her own words, but what else was she supposed to do. Not only could she not find any of her roommates, it also seemed that there had been some major and potentially explosive changes between them. 'An' that too right under my nose!' She groused. Moreover, even though she got the whole Rogue-Bobby deal, sort of, why was Kitty involved in it? It wasn't like she had something going on with Bobby behind Rogue's back. It wasn't. Really. Because if it was then that would mean…

"Oh God!" She gasped as realization dawned on her. 'Kit-Kat. What have you done? Oh God. Oh God. Oh GOD!!' And that too in Rogue's current condition.

---

A few hours later, Back in Africa,

"Logan."

"Yeah." He looked up, just in time to-

"I-I am sorry."

"What? He wasn't sure if he heard it correct. True the words had reached him but still, there was no way that she was apologizing to-

"I am sorry." There it was again, same lip movements, same sound, same words.

"Uh-…"

"About earlier." Earlier? "I shouldn't have said those things to you, spoken that way."

"…"

Why was she staring at him? Did she expect him to say something? Was there blood still on his hair? He'd washed it all out…thrice.

"I just…I…sorry."

"Uhhh…Yeah" Cough. Cough. "Me too."

Now it was Ororo's turn to look confused.

"I mean, I'm sorry too. I shouldn'ta…y'know."

Accepting that that was the closest thing to an apology that she was going to get from him, Ororo nodded, gave a small smile and started to turn away, most probably heading to turn in for the night.

"Hey 'Ro. You alright." She stopped mid move, her eyes shooting up to meet his, growing even wider at the next words that came out of his mouth, words that seemingly surprised him too. "You wanna talk about…"

For a second it looked as if she would shake her head, denying once again his offer.

"About what?"

"About…y'know…" he grappled for an answer, one that would be satisfactory not only to him, but also to her, one that would get her to relax. "Anything."

"Anything?"

"Yeah, anything." He frowned. 'Come on lady. Throw me a friggin' bone here. What'd you wanna me to do? How the fuck should I know-….owww. Oh yeah."

"How about starting by telling me what the fuck…I mean, by telling me what are we doing here. I mean, I know it's important to ya, but fer me it's like going around blind in the dark. Could sure use a light."

"Oh." There, that…that look, it was back, the one that told him that she was looking at him as if she trying to decide whether he was telling the truth or just yanking her chain. "Okay."

'Good.'

"It all started back in New York. It was there that I was born. My parents…"

It would be dawn before either of them got any sleep.

-

-

* * *

**_Note:_** With this chapter finished, I have cleared off one more overcooked update from the 'backlog' that has collected over the last two months. After First Impressions and now this one, it's onto 'To Dream Again' after which, it's the much delayed update of 'Once Upon A Time…' Readers of those stories; keep your fingers crossed and hope I last long enough to clear out that inventory too. 

As for the ending of this chapter and its similarity to Chapter-15 of 'First Impressions', that's a deliberate write-in.

Please Review!!


End file.
